brennan



(No Model.)

J. LIGNTON N P. H. BRENNAN. -MAIL BAG ORD FASTENBR.

' No. 434,875. Patented Aug. 19, 1890.Y

0mm NJW., MY. Q 2 SMN? e UNITED STATES aTnNT Fries.

JOHN LIGHTON AND PATRICK H. BRENNAN, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE JOI-IN LIGHTON MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MAIL-BAG-CORD FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,875, dated August 19, 1890.

Application tiled July 23, 1890.' Serial No. 359,633. (No model.) 4

To LZZ whom it may concern:

Bc it known that we, JOHN LIGHTON and PATRICK Il. BRENNAN, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in llIail-Bag-Cord Fasteners, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to an improved fastener particularly applicable for fasteninfl mail and otherbags; and it has for its object the production of a simple, effective, and durable device which positively prevents the opening of the bag and is readily adjusted to open or close the bag; and to this end it consists, essentially, in a guide through which the cord is passed, a support upon which the cord rests, and a movable holder above said support for friction ally engaging the cord and retaining the same in its adjusted position.

The invention also consists in the detail construction and arrangement of the parts,

. all as hereinafter more particularly described,

and pointed out in the claim.

In describing this invention reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l represents a top plan view of an open bag and our improved cord-fastener operatively secured to a cord for gathering together the mouth of the bag. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively top and bottom plan views of our improved cordfastener. Figs. 4t and 5 are vertical sectional views taken on the respective sectionlines :c and yy, Fig. 2; and Fig. G is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on line z z, Fig. 2, of our improved fastener.

A represents any suitable construction of bag, which is here shown as an ordinary mailbag having its upper part provided with a series of perforations or openings a, through j which is passed a suitable cord B, of any desirable construction.

C represents our improved fastener, thro ugh which are passed the ends Zi of the cord B. The fastener C are provided with a guide c for re* ceiving the cord B, and as preferably constructed this guide is formed of metal bent into a U shape in erossscction, as best seen in Figs. 4L and 5.

To allow the ready passage of the cord, the opposite extremities of the guide c are preferably open and are provided with suitable partitions c', which firmly support or brace the upper part of the guide and form sepa rate channels or ways through the guide for 6o the opposite extremities of the cord, thus directing each toits own wheel and preventing any interference one with the other, by which they might become knotted or twisted together and jammed in the guide. The baseplate c2 of the fastener C forms a support upon which the cord rests, and, as best seen in Figs. 4 and (i, this base-plate is preferably formed with a pair of depressed grooves c", concaved both laterally and longitudinally 7o for receiving the cord and retaining the same with a greater power than would otherwise be the case.

Above the grooves c3 are the holders D, which are movable toward and away from 7 5 the cord for frictionally engaging the same and retaining it in its adj usted position. As constructed these holders are cam-shaped and consist of a wheel eccentrically pivoted at its forward portion by a pin d to the walls 8o of the guide c and formed with a concaving face or periphery CZ, adapted to fit around the cord and firmly holding the same by the great amount of bearingsurface.

When the bag is closed, it will be understood that the same is gathered together by forcing the fastener along the cord B until it can go-no farther. In order to open the bag it becomes necessary for the cord to move 1n the direction shown by the arrow l, 6, 9o and upon reference to said figure it will be noted that the pivot-point d of the holder D is at the forward portion thereof, and that such movement of the cord tends to roll the holder in the direction shown by the arrow 2, Fig. 6, whereupon the cord is more tightly impinged than when no strain is present. It will thus be understood that the greater the strain from the inside of the bag to open the same the greater the force with which the cord I oo fastener holds the bag.

When the operator desires to open the bag,

he rolls the holders upward, or, in other words, in a direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 2, whereupon the fastener can be readily shifted to its extreme backward or any other 5 desired adjustment.

c4 represents an opening in the upper part of the guide c for the purpose o'f enabling the operator to actuate the holding-eccentrics D by his thumb and fingers while the hand is 1o in engagement with the fastener for adjusting the same to its desired position.

The pivot-pin upon which the. holders or wheels D are eccentrically mounted isplaced nearer the forward edge c7 of the opening c4 I5 than to the rear edge 08, so that while the longer radius of the holders inaygpass the pposite edge cS of the opening it cannot pass the edge which thus acts as a stop to hold the wheels in retracted position, as shown by dot- 2o ted lines in Fig. G, when the cord may be freely moved in either direction.

The operation of rolling backward the eccentric D for the purpose of enabling' the opening of the bag is, however, greatly faciliz tated by first pulling the cord backward, or,

in other words, in a direction opposite to that shown by the arrow l, whereupon the eccentric is rolled upward by the movelnent of the cord, and said eccentric can then readily be 3o engaged by the operator, thereby greatly fathe pin upon which they are mounted is so located that when the holders are clamping the cord they lie substantially within the guide. Any danger of accidental loosening of the holders and consequent opening of the 4o bag is thus most effectively obviated.

As preferably constructed, the base or bottom wall c2 of the fastener C is formed of a separate piece from the remaining portion, and is secured thereto by ears c5, formed upon the lower edge of the side of the guide and registered with openings c inV the said bottom wall c2. The side edges e of this bottom wall are lapped upon the lower face of said wall, with a space e interposed between the 5o adjacent faces of said bottom wall and the side edges. Moreover the rear edge e2 is also lapped upon the bottom wall, as best seen in Fig. 6, thus forming a guide for receiving a suitable tag F, upon which is printed' the -name of the railroad andthe direction in which the mail-bag is to go, or any other suitable information or mark to designate one bag from another.

The concaved depressions forming the grooves c3 in the upper side of the base-plate c2 form, also, Figs. l and 6, corresponding converse projections on the under side of said plate, which extend into the tag orlabel holding space and act to slightly bend the label, and thus secure it more firmly in place. The parts of our invention are very simple in construction and operation, since the guide c and receiver e are formed of sheet metal and are secured together at a minimum cost of expense, and the wheels D are also very cheap, strong, durable, and effective.

The object of our invention will be readily perceived from the foregoing description and upon reference to the drawings, and it will be readily understood that the detail construction and arrangement of its parts may be somewhat varied from that described without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combined cord-fastener and label-holder, consisting of a guide having separate channels for the cord,abaseplate havingagroove concaved longitudinally and laterally in each channel, and eccentric holders arranged to press the cord into such grooves, the baseplate having its sides and one end bent inward to co-operate with convex projections under the plate in holding the label,substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the countyof Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 21st day of July, 1890.

JOHN LIGI-ITON. PATRICK H. BRENNAN. Witnesses:

CLARK H. NORTON, M. BAXTER. 

